Between Us Girls
by cyberimp6
Summary: A slightly different spin on the XellosFilia relationship.


Disclaimer: Characters and concepts from "Slayers" are Copyright Hajime Kanzaka, Tommy Ohtsuka, and Rui Araizumi. This work is a parody and not to be used for any commercial purposes.

Acknowledgement: This story owes a debt to Sales' uproarious series, "Filia's Christmas Party".

**Between Us Girls **

The first rays of the morning sun crept past the sign "Maces and Vases", and into the combined shop and dwelling. Although the building was a familiar sight to all the residents of the town, a sharp-eyed observer would have noticed something different on this particular morning. Festive ribbons hung from the eaves, and a wreath was on the sturdy oak door, making it look less like a place of business and more like a meeting-hall. An especially nosy passer-by who peered inside would have seen the remnants of a sizeable party. There were still plates, cups, and wine glasses on tabletops and even some of the shelves.

Not visible from the outside, there was more disarray upstairs, especially in the main bedroom. There, the dawn revealed a man and a woman slumbering in the bed, the man having dark hair and a youthful face, and the woman with flowing blonde hair. Lower down, a good-sized tail poked out from under the covers on the woman's side of the bed. As the sun came in through the curtains, the man stirred and awoke. His eyes came open, then closed again as if he was more comfortable that way, but then opened wide in astonishment.

"Filia??" Xellos stared at the dragoness. Then he stared at the clothes strewn around the bedroom. He stared at the room itself, frowning for a moment at Filia's taste in furnishings. And lastly he stared at his own lack of clothes. "Oh, my . . ." he said, at a loss for words for the first time in several centuries.

Awake now, Filia stared back at him, but instead of being perplexed, she was clearly horrified. "Xellos?? What in Chaos is going on??"

"Ahh . . . well, it appears we both had a bit too much to drink..." he began.

"No I didn't!" Filia interrupted.

"But you don't remember what happened last night," Xellos tried to point out.

"Yes, I do!" Filia contradicted him again.

"Well, then, what are you confused about?" Xellos inquired, closing his eyes.

And Filia shouted, "Xellos, why are you NOT DEAD??"

Xellos blinked for a few moments. "Ummm . . . apparently our relationship is not at the stage I thought it was."

Filia gathered the covers around her to shield herself from Xellos' gaze. (She knew that his eyes being closed made little difference.) "Don't Mazoku feed off of negative emotions?"

"Yes, certainly." Xellos answered.

"But positive emotions harm them, right?" Filia pursued the point.

"Again, yes."

"So if a Mazoku were in . . . intimate contact . . . with someone experiencing . . . well, very positive sensations . . . it should be lethal to the Mazoku, shouldn't it?"

"Is THAT what was really going on last night??" Xellos yelled, his eyes open and blazing as angry as he had ever been.

Her cheeks flushing red, Filia nodded.

"That was -- was --" The Mazoku priest was on the point of launching a tirade about treachery. But being Xellos, the irony of the situation quickly occurred to him. " . . . pretty well thought out, actually. I wonder why it didn't work?"

"That's what I was asking you!" Filia pointed out.

"So you were." Xellos' brow furrowed in thought. "It can't be because you weren't close enough. You can't get closer than we were."

"Don't remind me!" Filia moaned, unable to cover her ears because she needed to keep the sheet around herself.

"And you certainly were feeling strongly positive," Xellos went on, "at least twice that I remember."

"_Pleeeaaase_ don't remind me!" Filia wailed.

"Perhaps those iced drinks you were serving gave some kind of immunity?" Xellos suggested. "Just what kind of tea was that, anyway?"

"It's a recipe from one of the longer islands beyond where the Barrier was." Filia said automatically. "But that can't be it -- it's supposed to lower your defenses."

"And it certainly worked."

Filia sat up with a start, nearly losing her grip on the covers. "The party! Oh, no! I never cleaned up last night! The shop must be a disaster -- there's probably bugs running all over by now!"

"Now, I'm sure that's an exaggeration." Xellos said. But the next moment his ears caught a faint buzzing sound. He turned, to see a good-sized fly in the far corner of the room. "Well, there might be one or two bugs around."

"Xellos-please-I'm-really-sorry-about-trying-to-do-you-in-but-I-need-you-to-leave-now!" Filia was speaking so fast the words nearly piled on top of each other.

Xellos was conscious of a very odd desire _not_ to make Filia unhappy. Partly to think further about this unexpected mood, and partly because he was used to doing things at whim, he decided to oblige. "I supposed I've stayed longer than usual already." He teleported from the bed at the same moment that his clothes vanished, and re-appeared in the middle of the room fully dressed. "But I do hope I can call on you again soon!" He gave a wink, and disappeared entirely before Filia could shout that he was not welcome.

Filia's morning did not improve much from there. She missed in her attempts to swat the fly, though she did manage to shoo it out of the bedroom window. A hasty wash in the sink got water up her nose, and let to a bout of spluttering. And it took her several frantic minutes of digging through closet and armoire to find a clean outfit, since her clothes of the day before had not gone into the laundry hamper. Through it all, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was somehow glad that Xellos had not been destroyed.

After a quick check on Val's egg, Filia dashed back and forth getting ready for opening time. Happily, she had created a spell to collect all the cups and dishes into the kitchen sink, and her dragon strength made it easy to move the furniture out of the way and the display cases back into position. Her prediction about bugs was also unfounded, for only two or three ants had made their way towards the leftover snacks. But she was halfway through writing out the day's tasks for Jilias and Gavros before she remembered they wouldn't be there. Jilias was still working on a way to instantly fire pottery using gunpowder, and Filia had insisted that the experiments be conducted in a clearing well outside of town, with Gavros standing by in case an unconscious Jilias needed to be carried back for healing spells. And worse still, there was no time to brew tea.

Filia had a strong feeling that it was going to keep being one of those days when her first customer walked in. It was clearly no one from the town, or anywhere near the town. It was a woman with pale hair almost like Filia's own, but not as well groomed. She was dressed in an unusual style, one that Filia had the feeling would not be in fashion for centuries to come, and she carried herself with an air not just of arrogance but of domination. Lastly, she had some unusual tube-like object in her mouth, with something that looked vaguely like one of Jilias' cannon fuses slowly burning at the end of it.

The woman showed no interest in Filia's stock of maces, but she looked rapidly over the shelves of vases and urns that the dragoness had for sale. Apparently she found nothing to catch her eye there either, for she beckoned Filia closer and inquired, "Do you carry martini glasses?"

Filia was caught off balance. "What . . . No, I specialize in china and stoneware." And it was then that smell of the woman's burning whatever-it-was really reached her. The odor vaguely reminded her of moldy cheese, or possibly a fire in an open sewer. "Could you put out that -- what is that awful-smelling thing, anyway?"

"Oh, it will be called a 'cigarette' in the future." The other woman displayed it proudly, making no move to put it out. "And it's actually even more unhealthy than it smells like. But I don't see a 'no smoking' sign in your shop."

"I didn't think I was going to need a sign telling people not to bring burning objects inside," Filia countered, keeping her self-control with difficulty.

"Yes, you wouldn't have expected me," the other blonde gave a condescending smile. "I imagine I'm the most irritating customer you've ever had."

"Actually, no." Filia recovered some of her temper. "There was a woman here a few months ago, looking for an extra-large drinking vessel. When I told her I didn't have such an item, she made a comment about my being a 'dragon without a flagon', and gave the most awful-sounding laugh I've ever heard."

"Hmmm. That is tough competition. But let me see what I can do." The other woman locked eyes with Filia. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zelas Metallium."

Filia knew instantly that she was speaking the truth, but she couldn't help herself from blurting in shock, "The Mazoku lord Beastmaster?"

"Yes, that's right."

Desperately, Filia tried to think of how to get help. Lina Inverse was in town, but bringing her into this would probably result in the entire town being destroyed. "Why are you here? To take Val?"

"No, no." Zelas waved her cigarette and its holder airily. "If I wanted the ancient dragon, it would be much more convenient to let you raise him first. What I'm here to talk to you about is Xellos."

"Xellos?" Filia repeated, her fear receding but her nervousness rising.

"You remember Xellos?" Zelas pretended to be helpful. "High Priest of the Church of Metallium? Purple hair, red eyes, annoying smile?"

"Yes, of course I know him." Filia said hastily. "What did you want to talk about concerning him?"

Zelas drew herself to a commanding pose. "Young lady, are your intentions honorable?"

Since the honest answer to the question was 'no', Filia nearly facefaulted. "Ahh--I don't know what you mean."

"You most certainly do." Zelas locked her gaze into Filia's. "There's a romantic interest between the two of you."

"R-romantic interest??" Filia sputtered. "No! I -- think you've been misinformed. Xellos and I have simply worked together on occasion."

"Really? Let me tell you a little more about Mazoku." Zelas almost purred. "As you're aware, we feed off negative emotions. But the truly powerful ones, such as myself, can distinguish even subtle differences among those emotions. Just now, I'm absorbing Shame with a generous measure of Anxiety. You're hiding something."

"Ahh . . . " And now Filia knew she was really in trouble. "Well, I don't know how he feels about me, but I'm really not attracted to him. In fact, I strongly dislike him."

"But if that's true, why did you invite him to the gathering you had here last night?" Zelas was back to giving Filia a penetrating gaze.

"Well, it seemed only right . . . " Filia searched for inspiration, "he was part of our group when we were fighting Darkstar."

"You're hiding something again!" Zelas waved her finger. "I happen to know Xellos didn't leave with the others when your soirée broke up."

"Yes . . . he was feeling -- affected -- by what he'd had to drink . . ." Filia struggled to stay as close to the truth as possible.

"And where did he end up sleeping?" Zelas inquired. "Hmm, there's a tasty surge of Embarrassment. He slept with you, didn't he?"

"Aaaahhh!" Filia cried, knowing she couldn't hide the truth.

"And you still say you dislike him? That there's no romantic relationship?" Zelas pressed.

"It's not like that!" Filia nearly tore her hair.

"But why else would you sleep with him? If you really dislike him, why would you--"

"_I was trying to destroy him_!!" Filia had gone beyond her breaking point. "He shouldn't have been able to survive all those positive feelings!"

"Well, well. So when you woke up this morning and found him alive and well . . . my, I wish I'd been a fly on the wall during that conversation." Zelas snapped her fingers, pretending to remember something. "Oh, that's right! I WAS!"

There was a puff of smoke, and Zelas' human form vanished. In its place there was a familiar-looking fly buzzing around the shop.

And Filia's scream of utter mortification went half-way across the town.

Lina and the others had just sat down to breakfast when the scream reached them.

"Someone needs help!" Amelia rose from her chair.

"I'm not so sure," Zelgadis held up his hand. "That sounded like a scream of Utter Mortification."

"And you would know this because . . .?" Lina inquired.

"When you're a chimera, you experience mortification." Zelgadis said with a touch of weariness in his voice.

"But it also sounded like Filia," remarked Xellos, who was sitting at the next table.

"And it came from the direction of her shop." Amelia chimed in. "We should go there, just in case."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea," said Xellos. "I have a suspicion . . ." and with the end of his sentence unfinished, he vanished.

"Now I'm definitely going," said Lina, "You never know what Xellos might be up to!" And with that, there was a three-person stampede for the door.

"Keep it warm," Zelgadis said to the waitress as he dropped several coins onto the table. "There's no way Lina Inverse would completely abandon a double-portion breakfast special." And, with less noise but equal speed, the chimera was out the door as well.

Back at "Maces and Vases", Filia still had her hands clapped over her mouth, realizing that her scream was going to attract attention. Xellos teleported in, then turned and bowed to Zelas. "Greetings, my Lady. I presume you have met Filia."

"Why yes," Zelas said cheerfully. "She's been making me feel very welcome." Filia looked anything but welcoming, but decided silence was the best course for the moment.

Gourry was the next to arrive, since he had learned to run very fast to keep up with those who cast Ray Wing. But he didn't recognize Zelas. "What have you been doing to Miss Filia and this other lady, Xellos?" he demanded.

Xellos blinked. "What have I been doing?? It's more what Filia . . . Umm, never mind."

Lina charged into the shop, ready to cast any of a dozen destructive spells. But it wasn't immediately clear who the enemy was. Filia took advantage of the momentary hesitation to save her shop. "Wait, Lina!" she moved in front of the red-haired sorceress with her arms outstretched.

Lina paused, but still looked ready. "What's Xellos up to now?" she demanded.

"Now why," Xellos took on a wounded air, "when there's trouble, does everyone assume I'm the one causing it?"

"Because they know you?" came Zelgadis' voice. The chimera had made his entrance much more quietly than his traveling companions.

"Well, you have something of a point." Xellos raised his finger. "But I am usually subtle and sneaky about it."

"You shouldn't boast about being sneaky!" Princess Amelia had now arrived. "Concealing your intentions is unjus--WAAA!" Paying more attention to her speech than her footing, Amelia tripped on the edge of a rug. Instantly everyone else in the shop, except for Zelas, darted over to a shelf or stand and held Filia's more delicate vases in place as the Saillune princess hit the floor with a loud thump.

"Excellent reflexes, Filia." Xellos remarked, nudging a vase with engraved dragons running around it back into place. "But I don't suppose you have something with a wolf motif?"

"Why, Xellos, would you be thinking of buying someone a present?" said Zelas.

"Ahem!" Lina broke in. "Before anything else, would someone like to tell me WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??"

"Xellos, sweetie?" Zelas arched an eyebrow expectantly.

Xellos gave a tiny sigh of resignation, then stepped forward. From somewhere, a cone of light came down to illuminate Zelas. Xellos gestured towards her like a master showman, and his voice became deeper and seemed to fill the shop. "Created uncounted centuries ago to be one of the Dark Lord Shabranigdo's five lieutenants, she blazed a swath of destruction through all enemies. Now, having shown herself a master planner as well, she is known and feared throughout the world for her unsurpassed power. She is -- Beastmaster!"

"_What_!?" shouted Lina, Amelia and Zelgadis together.

"But she looks so pretty," said Gourry.

"I like him," said Zelas, pointing towards the blonde swordsman.

"Well, you're not the first Mazoku lord we've faced." Amelia recovered her nerve. "As long as we never give in to despair and fight as hard as we can, Justice will prevail! Source of all souls which dwells in the eternal--"

"No combat spells in my shop!" Filia interrupted, clamping a hand over Amelia's mouth.

"Besides, I've been quite peaceful so far." Zelas pointed out. "And isn't it unjust to attack someone who isn't attacking you?"

What could be seen of Amelia's face above Filia's hand suddenly looked confused.

"And I'm planning to stay peaceful, if you'll allow me." Zelas continued.

"You'll pardon me if I'm not convinced," Lina spoke up. "Why else would you be here, except to take something or attack someone?"

"I might say the same thing about the 'bandit killer' and 'dragon spooker'." Zelas answered. "But tell me, isn't 'the enemy of all who live' an exaggeration?"

A vein began to throb in Lina's forehead. "So much of an exaggeration that it shouldn't even be mentioned." The redheaded sorceress said in a strained voice.

"Oh, I'm informed similar things have been said about Mazoku." Zelas gave a glance toward Amelia, who had just been released by Filia. The princess blushed. "But to answer your original point, I came here to talk to Filia about Xellos."

"Oh, you mean his feelings for her?" Gourry piped up.

"What??" yelled Lina, Zelgadis, and Amelia together.

"How hard is it to see?" Gourry shrugged.

"But he's a Mazoku!" Protested Amelia.

"He can't have feelings for anyone!" Lina said.

"Particularly not a dragon." Zelgadis chimed in.

"I confess I'm somewhat curious about that myself," remarked Xellos.

Zelas turned to Filia. "Did Xellos ever tell you about the first time he helped Lina save the world?"

"The first time . . . oh, that's right." Filia shook her head. "Not Xellos, but Lina and Amelia told me a good deal about the struggle between Gaav and Hellmaster. They thought I should know about Gaav, because of Val's history."

"Sensible." Zelas approved. "Well, Lina essentially sacrificed her existence -- her physical body -- to the Lord of Nightmares to destroy Phibrizzo. Gourry went to get Lina back, and was required to sacrifice Gorun Nova to do it. I could sense the imbalance from one of the five Darkstar weapons going missing, so I sent Xellos to retrieve it. Which of course turned out to be a wise precaution," Zelas added with a self-satisfied air, "since you needed it to defeat Darkstar himself."

"I'll grant you that point," Lina said.

"But it appears the Lord of Nightmares required a sacrifice from Xellos in turn. Since taking things always seemed to bring someone else after what had been lost, I imagine that L-sama decided to _give_ something to Xellos instead, but something that he might not necessarily want."

Lina snapped her fingers. "Like the ability to love a dragon!"

"Is _that_ what I felt then?" Xellos looked thoughtful. "I had just assumed it was indigestion." Filia glared at him.

"Well, I sensed something was odd immediately. A mother always knows when a change has come over her boy." Zelas' voice took on a long-suffering tone. Xellos sweatdropped. "Anyway, you may have noticed that Xellos was considerably more ruthless when you were going after Darkstar. I gave him strict instructions so he would be less appealing. And it does seem to have repelled Filia for a time."

"He still repels me!" Filia interrupted. "He's a creature who feeds off misery, who destroys for the pure pleasure of destruction!"

"Oh, no, he's not that bad," said Gourry. "He told Amelia so himself."

"Did he really?" Zelas asked, looking at Amelia.

"Well, yes, but I didn't believe him." Amelia replied.

"You should have." Zelas said. "Xellos has hardly ever lied outright. He always says it's more clever and more effective simply to leave some of the truth out."

"But doesn't he still feed off of other people's misery?" Amelia asked.

"Misery? Only when he can't help it. He's always been so finicky about his negative emotions." Zelas put a hand to her forehead. "I can't imagine where I went wrong."

"My Lady, perhaps now is not the best--" Xellos began to protest.

"Finicky, eh?" Lina inquired. "You mean he only likes a few of the negative emotions? Which ones?"

"The ones he says are more subtle and refined." Zelas completely ignored Xellos' uncomfortable expression. "For example, he loves Annoyance, but detests raw Hatred. And you know, when he was small, I would tell him over and over, 'finish your Despair, little Xellos, Mazoku are starving beyond the Great Barrier'. And he would yell, 'It tastes nasty!'"

"Motherrr!" Xellos wailed. "Not in front of my friends!"

"Oh, they're your friends now?" Zelas arched an eyebrow. "Don't you usually refer to them as your 'traveling buffet'?"

"_What_!?" yelled Amelia, Gourry, and Zelgadis. Lina, however, had the self-satisfied air of someone whose guess had been confirmed.

"You've been feeding on us??" Amelia demanded.

"All this time?" Gourry added.

"You Mazoku louse!" Zelgadis grated.

"But after all, why not use that wonderful sustenance?" Xellos said reasonably. "Suppose you came across, say, a roasted chicken with no one to claim it. Can you tell me you'd let it go to waste?"

"You have a point there." Amelia and Gourry said together.

"And I've never insulted you about being a chimera," Xellos turned to Zelgadis. "You feel bad about it all on your own." Zelgadis smacked himself in the forehead. "And there's that savory Chagrin I mentioned." Xellos said to Zelas.

"So you did." Zelas said appreciatively. "Enticingly flavored and hearty."

"All right, but what about Lina?" Zelgadis countered.

"Would anyone here care to be in charge of telling Lina to keep her temper?" Xellos inquired. Complete silence fell over the room.

"Getting back to the original point," Zelas remarked, "I admit I was upset at first. I considered destroying him and starting fresh." Lina glanced at Xellos, but the Mazoku priest seemed only slightly discomfited. "But then I realized that Xellos was even more extraordinary now that he had been before. And it's generally not a good idea to interfere with the Lord of Nightmares' work."

"Yes, I've run into that myself." Lina agreed.

"And it didn't seem to interfere with his service when fighting Darkstar." Zelas continued. "He did fail to destroy Valgaav, but then he's always been a bit careless when fighting other Mazoku."

Xellos winced. "It's not really necessary to remind everyone . . ."

"Anyway, I thought it would be wise to keep a closer eye on him. I wasn't sure whether L-sama's change meant he would lo--" Zelas stuck on the word, and hastily switched, "--excuse me, have feelings for a human or for a Ryuzoku. I confess to a bit of disappointment: I would have preferred a human. Humans are clearly becoming the dominant race since so many Mazoku and Ryuzoku have been killed by, well, various unpleasant events."

"You're telling me that The Lord of Nightmares herself wanted Xellos to fall in love with me?" Filia put a hand to the nearest wall to steady herself.

"Well, I doubt you were chosen specifically," said Zelas. "My guess is that L-sama is attempting to create a more subtle form of chaos, rather than disrupting the physical world."

"Well, so far it seems to be working." Zelgadis remarked.

"Well, this is an un-looked-for turn of events." Xellos looked uncertain for a moment, then brightened. "Still, it could have been worse. At least I formed an attachment to a female with an excellent figure." He glanced at Lina's less generous bustline.

Filia's cheeks showed pink. Next to her, Lina's entire face flamed red. "Xellos, you . . .!" She brought her hand up. "Elmekia La--"

But Filia hastily clapped a hand over Lina's mouth. "Not in my shop, for Cephied's sake!"

"Besides, a lower-level spell won't do any real harm to Xellos," Zelgadis pointed out.

Lina's brow creased in thought. "And no Dragon Slaves either!" Amelia and Filia added together. Lina hesitated a moment, then nodded.

Filia removed her hand. "You're right," Lina said, "what was I thinking?"

"I'm glad you realize--" Filia began.

"Lord of the dreams that terrify! Sword of cold and darkness, free yourself--"

"NO!!" came a general shout, and the next moment Gourry, Amelia, and Filia had piled on top of Lina.

"_Get_ -- _offa_ -- _me_ --" Lina got out.

"Panic and Rage," Zelas smiled. "You certainly know how to welcome a visitor."

"I do believe this would be a good time to start developing my relationship skills elsewhere," remarked Xellos.

"Yes!" said Amelia.

"Definitely!" said Zelgadis.

"Off you go!" Filia encouraged.

With the fizzle of teleportation, Xellos vanished.

"Come back, you chicken!" Lina yelled. The others began to get off her. "And you guys! Why wouldn't you let me give him what he deserves?"

"For one thing, there's not enough clear space in here for a full-power Ragna Blade." Whatever his lack of knowledge in other areas, when it came to swinging weapons Gourry was an expert.

"And I find Xellos far too useful to just stand by while you damage him." Zelas' voice had a hint of steel.

"Also, Miss Lina, he didn't name you specifically." Amelia pointed out.

"How can _you_ be defending a Mazoku?" demanded Lina.

"Very tempting Frustration," said Zelas, "but really, I couldn't eat another bite!"

It was probably fortunate at that moment that Xellos re-appeared, holding a bunch of flowers in one hand. "Hello again, everyone! Filia, these are for you."

'Oh. Umm . . . thank you, Xellos." Filia accepted the bouquet uncertainly. Her uncertainty vanished as she glanced at the flowers. "Hey! These are belladonna!"

"Oooh, my favorite." said Zelas.

"What's wrong with belladonna?" Gourry wanted to know.

"They're poisonous." Lina regained some of her good humor at the chance to demonstrate her knowledge. "Loaded with atropine, which causes dizziness, blindness, and occasionally death."

"But, surely a Ryuzoku isn't as delicate as a human?" Xellos countered.

"Ever heard the expression 'it's the thought that counts'?" Filia put the flowers in a vase (there was no shortage of them in the shop), and then put the vase into a cupboard which she pointedly closed and locked.

"Well then," Xellos inquired, "what would be a more suitable gift?"

"Jewelry!" Lina, Amelia, and Filia exclaimed together.

"Now there's an excellent idea," Zelas approved. "What are your favorites?"

"Well, I do think gold and rubies make a beautiful combination," said Filia.

"I'm very partial to orihalcon and emeralds." Lina put in her oar.

"Personally, I like silver and sapphires." Amelia chimed in.

"For a princess, isn't that a bit towards the cheaper side?" Lina asked.

"Perhaps I know of something better," said Zelas. "They're mining a new metal beyond where the Great Barrier used to be. It's colored like silver, but it's even denser than gold, and doesn't tarnish."

"Really?" Amelia looked intrigued, as did Lina and Filia.

"I can see we have some things to discuss." Zelas said. "Why don't we continue your breakfast at the inn, and we can share our little discoveries?" She made a gesture with the hand not holding her cigarette, and a little pile of gold pieces appeared in it. "My treat."

"But what about my shop?" Filia pointed out.

"Xellos will be happy to run things for little while." Zelas smiled.

"As My Lady wishes." Xellos gave a resigned nod.

"I hear the inn serves rather good tea." Zelas added, moving towards the door.

"Tea?" Filia's ears perked up. "I accept your kind invitation." She headed after Zelas.

"But . . ." Amelia protested, "She's one of the five great Mazoku lords!"

"A great Mazoku lord who's treating." Lina grabbed Amelia by the arm and dragged her out. Moments later, only the males were left in the shop.

"That's odd." Xellos said. "I have this strong sense of being in trouble as I've never been before."

Zelgadis slowly smiled. "And I have a sense that I'm going to learn how to enjoy someone's negative emotions . . ."

T h e E n d

Author's note: The idea of Xellos being able to love as a result of his encounter with the Lord of Nightmares has also appeared in AmberPalette's excellently written "Night Light". I actually came up with the idea independently: this fic took a surprisingly long time to write. But be it acknowledged that AmberPalette published first.

Also, The "dragon without a flagon" comment is a nod to the hilarious "the pellet of the poison" sequence in the classic Danny Kaye movie, "The Court Jester". I imagine less than one reader out of twenty will recognize it, but I couldn't resist putting it in.


End file.
